At least 9 people killed in a plane crash in eastern Sudan as the war reaches the 100-day mark

The conflict in Sudan reached the 100-day mark on July 24 with no sign of abating. It has killed more than 3,000 people and wounded more than 6,000 others

A civilian plane crashed after taking off from an airport in eastern Sudan, killing nine people, including four military personnel who were aboard the aircraft, the military said, as the conflict in the northeastern African country reached the 100-day mark on July 24 with no sign of abating.

The military said in a statement that a child survived late Sunday's crash in Port Sudan, a city on the Red Sea that so far has been spared from the devastating war between the military and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The Antonov plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, the military said. It blamed a technical failure for the crash. The statement provided no further details.

Al-Taher Abdel-Rahman, the secretary of Finance Minister Gebreil Ibrahim, was among the dead, according to the Minister, who took to social media to mourn his employee.

Sudan has plunged into chaos since mid-April when monthslong tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere across the country.

“It’s been 100 days of war in Sudan, with a devastating toll on lives and infrastructure, but worse lies ahead,” said William Carter, Norwegian Refugee Council’s director in Sudan.

The fighting has turned Khartoum and other urban areas into battlefields. The sprawling region of Darfur saw some of the worst bouts of violence in the conflict with the fighting turning into ethnic clashes.